My Son Is a Night Owl

I agree with the rest...Time for 1 nap now...Just have to find things to keep him busy & must importantly awake...My son takes a nap at around 11-12 for about 1 or 2 hrs then doesn't go back down until 6-7pm..He's pretty much a 6-6 sleeper....Hope things work out for you...

One nap. He's telling you that two is too many.
It seems in the first two years that once you have a schedule set then their needs change or they get to a new stage and everything you thought you had down pat is now not working. Think how fast he is "evolving" - what works last month may not work next month!! Roll with it and enjoy the ride.

About 15 months my son stopped taking the morning nap. while it was nice for 2 naps a day, we were able to go more places and get different things accomplished. He still goes down between 8-8:30 now with about a 2 (sometimes 3) hour nap around 12:00.

Good luck!

It sounds like he's ready to move to one nap. What we did was start pushing back the morning nap in 1/2 hour increments and not allowing an afternoon nap after 2:30. We also limited the afternoon nap to an hour. For about a week or so, we had to move bedtime up 1/2 hour because while 2 naps were too many, 1 wasn't quite enough. The boys (18 mo. twins) now consistently go down for their nap after lunch and sleep 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Bedtime is about 7:15 and they sleep until about 6:30 - 7 am. It didn't take that long to transition, but I will confess the first few days weren't a lot of fun. However, getting a full night's sleep made it all worthwhile!

I agree with the others who said you son may be ready for one nap a day rather than two, but I would also say be open to when your son is ready for his one nap. My 19-month-old takes only one nap a day, but she usually goes down about 10 a.m.! I've noticed that if she goes to sleep at 10, she'll sleep 2-3 hours, but if she goes down at 12 (usually because we're out and about), she'll only sleep about 1 hour. She then goes to bed at 7:30, regardless of when she had a nap.

Hi Kim,
It seems like he might be ready to drop a nap during the day. When my son turned 1 year he dropped his 930am nap and started napping at 11:30 or noon. Then he would go back down until his official bedtime around 7pm.:)

Our son will be one in two weeks. If there is a group of people at our house he is entertained and will stay up with everyone else till 12 or later! If I put him in his bed and walk out he cries for about 15 - 20 min ( I do not go and check on him this only delays his misery for longer) He is out like a lite after that. He sometimes still wakes up around 3 am for a bottle. Sometimes his diaper is just full. Best of luck mom get some sleep.

He is getting too much sleep during the day. here what I did for my children when there were one. up about 9 and in a nap around 1-3 in bed at night about 8

Try an early lunch and one nap right after it. He sounds like he's ready for that, a little earlier than most kids.

Have you tried skipping the afternoon nap this might help him sleep at night.

It sounds as if he's ready for only one nap per day. Maybe if you combined and did a late morning nap-say from 11-1 or so? If he's not sleepy at "bedtime" then you might want to consider he's ready for only one nap.

It may be that your son is ready to cut it back to one nap a day. My daughter was this way (and I am currently going through this with my nephew who lives with us). The way we worked it was to eliminate the morning nap totally and then put them down about 1 p.m.. I would let her sleep no later than three. It took a couple of days to regulate her out this way, but she was ready for bed by about 7:30 and would sleep on through the night. (A warning, by the time that she was about 4 she couldn't take a nap at all or she would be up half the night again).
Good luck!

What I would recommend having an 18-month old myself who always seems to throw her nap schedule out of whack is try and keep him up through his morning nap and then lay him down between 12pm-1pm for one long nap that should last about 2-3 hours (or in my case 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours). He might just be at the stage of switching to one long nap instead of taking two. I think this might help with his late afternoon nap so that way he'll have a normal bed time.

If my daughter only sleeps 30 minutes due to waking herself up or "pooping" herself awake and won't go back down then I don't bother with another nap. Sure she might be majorly grumpy by 6pm but at least I know she'll go down at her normal time of 7-7:15 for the evening. I know each child is different but this is just a helpful hint that I learned when my toddler would take a morning nap and then a late afternoon nap or none at all! So we just switched to one long nap in the middle of the day and she maintains a pretty normal sleep schedule.

Maybe he is ready for just one nap instead of 2.

I do not think he needs a morning nap anymore. If he were in daycare they would serve him lunch at 11:30 and he would go down for nap at 12:00 or 12:30. Then you run the heck out of him when he wakes up. Feed him bathe him and get him to bed by 7:30 or 8:00.

Try cutting his morning nap down to 1 1/2 or 1 hour only and wake him up. Then give him his normal aftternoon nap. See if that works. I had to do this with my daughter around the same age and it did the trick. :) Good luck!!

Work him hard! Lol. During the waking hours, keep him active so he will be tired later. Also, keep in mind that as he grows (and his interests develop), his sleep needs and patterns will change. If you need quiet time, then teach him that it's his quiet time, too, even if he doesn't sleep. You can't make him sleep, but put him down, anyway, and teach him to entertain himself for a certain amount of time. Can you put him in a bed (or a room) that he can't get out of, where he can safely play or otherwise entertain himself? Give him a later bedtime at night. Try to keep him up in late afternoon. 4pm is too late for a nap if you want him to go to sleep for the night at 7 or 8pm.

Hi,,K.,,
Well your the mom so you just need to take the time to get him back on schedule it may be tuff for a few days but then your back to normal.

Good Luck L.

One year olds only need one nap usually. Welcome to life with a "kid" instead of a baby. Keep him busy and active in the moring then nap him after lunch. He'll be tired enough to sleep at night again I bet.
If he can't make it throught the morning keep the nap short so he's ready to nap again by 2pm. He needs to be back up by 4 or 5 so he'll sleep from 8pm on.
Whatever you try, give it several days before giving up because these things take time. :)

Sounds to me like he's ready to cut out a nap. One thing I didn't know with my first child is that cutting out a nap generally makes for a grumpy child. Just because he "doesn't need a second nap anymore doesn't mean he won't act tired." It's a tough transition for mommy. :) You might think, he's really grumpy and tired come 4 pm, but just keep him up. Life might be miserable for a little while but he'll soon adjust. Maybe push his morning nap a little later (again, grumpy child) then skip the afternoon all together. You should see the 1 am wakings stop fairly quick.

Don't put him down for a morning nap. Make his afternoon nap one at 1:00 or 1:30. He may resist, but if you stay there and rub his back or do something to relax him, he'll go down, then he'll be ready for a reasonable evening bed-time. He obviously is one of those who do not require a lot of sleep, so you be the one to adjust his sleep time.